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I started the Modern Psychologist blog in 2011. Readers may have wondered about that name. The definition of a psychologist may be relatively straightforward, but what does it mean to be modern? I admittedly chose the term because it was partly ambiguous, having at least two possible meanings. Each interpretation closely parallels my conflicted thoughts […]

Regular readers of this blog ought to be familiar with ‘Mrs. Neutron’ – the online moniker belonging to a fellow blogger (Mrs. Neutron’s Garage) who was a frequent visitor and commenter on this site. It was a strange but happy coincidence that we stumbled upon one […]

Posted in blog on August 13, 2014 | There are currently Comments Off on Farewell Mrs. Neutron

Regular visitors of my blog will know my affinity for Albert Camus. In my opinion Camus had an unparalleled grasp of the human condition. Few have been capable of matching his lucidity, quality of thought, and fidelity to reason – though his views have from time to time been challenged. In 1971, Thomas Nagel wrote […]

Since this blog’s inception I have taken the unpopular position that psychology is not an empirical science. Indeed it is my contention that psychologists are only able to regard their work as empirically scientific, by virtue of their Kuhnian-like faith in a preferred conceptual community, a dogmatic adherence to an empirical epistemology, and a tacit […]

This appears to be a deeply pessimistic time to be human. I have written extensively about the happy dehumanization of our species within these posts. Various forms of reductive physicalism and eliminative materialism are now in vogue. Our faith in science seems secure; nothing appears to escape the explanatory power of the materialist worldview – […]

Review of Kenan Malik’s book ‘Strange Fruit’ Kenan Malik’s book, Strange Fruit: Why both sides are wrong in the race debate, is an important one. And it is for this reason that the title might be a bit unfortunate, since one’s preconceived notions about race may cause them to prejudge what the book is about. […]

After an enjoyable 2-month break, I find myself again mentally preparing for a fall semester of teaching. My classes almost invariably begin with a discussion intended to clarify the differences between opinions, reasons, and objective evidence. During these lectures, I also offer a contrast between what is commonly regarded as science, versus the more pejorative […]

Atheism, by definition, means an absence of faith or a disbelief in the existence of God. By this definition, I am most assuredly an atheist. But as followers of this blog will know, I also have a dislike for some of the attitudes and methods, respectively held and utilized, by a sizable minority of contemporary […]

There is no ultimate purpose, point, or meaning, to human life – our existence is absurd. Some of us know this – at least intellectually. And yet most of the time, awareness is not enough to prevent us from trying to escape our uniquely human problem, through the reification of symbolic meaning by illusionary ideals. […]

The human condition is ultimately absurd. Yet the unconscious mind works in ways to disguise that fact from our awareness while circumventing the uncomfortable feelings that would otherwise be provoked. The threat is always there – as is our unending thirst for psychological equanimity. Illusionary ideological systems offer meaning to an otherwise meaningless existence, and […]